Muggle Magick
by EpicWitch
Summary: Harry Potter had a best friend who wasn't scared of Dudley. Alex Smith befriended him, along with her mothers. Alex introduced Harry to the world of magick long before they went to Hogwarts to learn about magic. They quickly learn that their "Muggle Magick" (Wicca) is very different from wizard magic, but it does seem to help. Join them as they learn about magic and You Know Who.
1. Chapter 1

Petunia Dursley hated the neighbors across the street in Number 5, Privet Drive. She put on an act around them of course, as the whole neighborhood enjoyed the company of the two women (Lesbians! In her neighborhood! Freaks almost worse than wizards, Petunia thought).

Then they had to go and adopt a child - well! She wished she would have known they were looking into it, she thought bitterly as she watched the now ten year old Harry cook breakfast. Petunia would have been gleeful in handing over Harry Potter. Let the lot of them be a family of freaks and her family be normal.

Things never seemed to go her way, however.

Harry and Alex (the name of the orphan ruffian the lesbians had adopted) had grown up friends, despite her efforts to isolate the boy. Rumors about his delinquency didn't unnerve the lesbians (really, she should have known their names after nearly twelve years) the way it did everyone else. They encouraged their tomboy "daughter" to play with the brat. Though she did like the girl a little, Petunia grudgingly admitted to herself. She seemed mostly normal and was eager to help out - even if it was so Harry would have free time to play with her. But the girl did keep the boy out of trouble, so she allowed it.

She scowled into her coffee and snapped at the boy about burning the bacon he set before her. Harry nodded and carefully scraped off the burnt parts - it wouldn't do to cook more and throw this lot in the trash as Vernon would notice and lock him away for wasting food.

Soon enough, Harry and Dudley were off at school, Vernon was at work, and Petunia was left to stew in silence.

 _Break_

Harry plonked down next to Alex Smith on the bus, giving her a grin. "Morning, Al!" he chirped.

Alex glared weakly at him. "You know I'm not a morning person," she groused, brushing some of her long brown bangs out of her eyes. Really need to cut it, she thought idly.

"I am, and you're not gonna get anything other than cheery from me," he informed his best and only friend solemnly.

"Then go be cheery somewhere else," she retorted with a wrinkled nose.

"Hmm." Harry tapped his chin, pretending to think. "Nah."

The girl sighed and slumped against the window. "I'm just glad school is almost over. Two more days and then we're free from that hell."

Harry patted her arm sympathetically. Bullied kids had a tendency to stick together. "Then we're free to make our own fun. And we'll both be eleven soon! You're lucky enough to have your birthday a week after school, mine's right in the middle of summer."

Alex's hazel eyes lit up. "That's right! I can't wait to be eleven! I'm so excited, my mums are gonna get me some new books and, um, some of the other stuff you're sworn to secrecy about! I can do some of that on my own then! And you can join if you like, when you're eleven. Mum and ma said that you're welcome to. You're already practicing anyway. Might as well do the full initiation."

"So much for not being a morning person," he teased lightly. Then he turned thoughtful. "I think I'd like that. It'd be brilliant to really be a part of your family. You know how I feel about mine."

Alex nodded. "Yeah. I understand. You're gonna love it when we celebrate Samhain."

The bus jolted to a stop at the school, ending their conversation for the moment. They filed into class quietly and took their seats, preparing for their tests. The next days would be a joke, and then summer could truly begin.

 _Break_

Alex hummed as she crossed the street to number 4, happy to help Harry complete his chores at the Dursley house so they could go to the park or back to her house to practice their herbs and learn more about the Greek gods and goddesses. She and Harry enjoyed those lores in particular, and she seriously considered picking a couple of those gods to worship. Harry was too, and she often teased him about looking Greek thanks to his tanned skin and dark, messy hair.

Rocking back on her heels after ringing the bell, she thought more about it. Maybe they would do it when they initiated Harry. After that, lessons would surely be easier, she reasoned.

"Hi Mrs. Dursley," she greeted when the door swung open. "I'm here to help, like always! Where's Harry and what needs to be done?"

Petunia sighed and stood aside to let Alex in. "Right now, dear, he's cleaning the bathroom. He should be done soon, and then the two of you can weed the garden. I suggest putting on sunscreen; the weathermen say it's going to be very hot outside. Make sure to drink plenty of water, too."

"Yes ma'am," Alex answered, going straight for the hall closet. She plucked the sunscreen from she shelf and applied to the exposed areas of her skin.

Harry finished halfway through her process and began the same on himself. When Petunia was distracted with something else, he whispered, "Did you do the spell?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, but it's always good to have backup. I trust in my magick, but I always have a backup. Especially with my crazy pale skin. We should be 100% from the sun today."

Harry grinned, relieved. He hated sunburns. "Thank you."

As they weeded, two owls come out of nowhere and landed in their garden.

"What the?" Alex muttered, watching them strangely. Owls weren't her spirit animal - Harry had an owl for one, she knew, but she didn't. Then they hooted and stuck out their legs.

"Alex? Are they...carrying letters?" Harry asked, confused.

"They appear to be," she replied, just as perplexed. She untied the letter from the owl in front of her and Harry did the same.

"How did they know I lived in the cupboard?" Harry stared at the envelope, alarmed, before he looked to Alex accusingly. "You're playing a prank on me, aren't you?"

"No!" she swore. "I have no idea about any of this."

He looked at her a moment more before nodding. "Okay, I believe you. Let's hurry and read these before Aunt Petunia sees and takes mine away."

"Agreed."

They both began their letters, owls still in the dirt, unaware that their lives were about to change forever.

 **A/N: This chapter is mostly preliminary, laying background work and foundations for what is to come as Harry and Alex grow into the Wicca religion and go to Hogwarts. I don't pretend to be an expert, I have only been Wicca for a year, but I believe I've learned enough to portray what two eleven year olds might know and learn from Alex's moms. Please don't automatically assume stuff about devil worshiping, I get enough of it for liking Harry Potter in the first place, let alone having a religion that revolves around magick and saving the earth.**

 **Edit: If you received notifications about me reuploading this chapter, I apologize. I was having trouble getting my break lines in and it seems I need to have words, so I have to go with the ugly, flow breaking " _Break_ " instead.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disbelief. Shock. Those two emotions were the first that the best friends felt after reading the letters.

"This is...wow," Alex breathed out. "No wonder my magick worked so well. I have magic. Unless, of course, because my Wicca magick is so strong, they thought I had this magic. I would prefer to think of it that way."

"It would also explain why I have so much trouble doing spells the way you do. I probably have this magic. The magic they're expecting," Harry commented, folding the letter and hiding it in his pants. "Maybe my magic isn't supposed to work that way. Or it takes a lot of effort to make it do that, since I was able to do that one burn spell to get the fire going that one day."

Alex nodded. "And why you could turn the teacher's hair blue while I couldn't," she snickered. "May"be I'll be able to learn that at this school! Even if my magic is different!" Her eyes sparkled with delight at the thought.

"Do you want to change your hair blue or something?" Harry asked, bemused, as he returned to the weeding. The owls still stood there, however, and stopped him.

"No," Alex responded with a roll of her eyes. "Are you guys waiting for a response or something?"

One owl bobbed its head.

"Oh. Well, um...We can't respond at the moment. Can you hang around for a while? We'll be able to leave soon and then we can write replies," the girl said awkwardly, unsure if the animals could really understand her.

They both nodded and fluttered up into a tree to take a brief nap.

"Whoa. Okay, that is rather convincing," Harry admitted. "This has to be real."

"Duh!" Alex grinned again, returning to the weeding with Harry.

An hour later, Petunia dismissed them, having nothing else for them to do, and Alex discreetly roused the owls before heading over to her home with Harry.

Her mums were at work, so they had the house to themselves.

"What should we say? We accept your invitation and would like someone to come and help us find the place to shop for these things?" Alex asked Harry, nibbling her pencil.

"I dunno," Harry shrugged. "That sounds about right to me. We ought to set them up so they're at the same time so we can go together, right? Oh, I suppose I should explain about the Dursleys so that way they can't do anything to me...Like prevent me from going."

"Good idea. We don't want something like that to happen. And if they realize you got the letter and didn't tell them...best to write that, Harry, so that way whoever comes can lie for you. They absolutely have to, unless they're gonna take you from there and put you with good people."

"Like you and your mums?" Harry said with a teasing grin.

"Hey, I wouldn't object to you living here," Alex giggled. "We could afford it, and I know Mum and Ma would love to have you here instead of there."

"I better not suggest it, though, just in case. I don't know what these people are like."

"Good point. Just explain about the Dursleys and I'm sure everything will be okay. Can you believe that your birthday is in three days?" Alex, asked, changing the subject as she scribbled the confirmation and her request.

"Nope. It's gonna be like usual, but you'll be there. I still can't believe that the glass disappeared at the zoo! That was so awesome, watching Dudley be trapped," Harry laughed.

"I wish I could have seen it," Alex said wistfully, sealing her letter in an envelope. She gave it to the owl that had delivered her letter. "I'm sorry I don't have anything for you. I don't know what owls eat."

The owl nibbled her fingers in acceptance and flew off, along with Harry's.

"Telling Mum and Ma is gonna be so weird."

"No kidding."

 _Break_

Later that evening, Alex's mums returned from work. Martha Smith was a very tall, regal looking lady with the darkest skin, eyes, and hair Alex had ever seen. Laura Trulane was short, barely reaching five feet and four inches (162.5 cm) and pale.

"How was your day, Al?" Martha asked when she came in, sweeping her daughter into a hug.

"Fantastic, Mum! Oh, you're gonna go utterly bonkers when I tell you!" Alex squealed, hugging her back.

Laura laughed. "What mischief did you and Harry get up to today?" she asked, her accent that of Midwestern United States.

"Ma, it wasn't mischief!" Alex pulled out the Hogwarts letter and shoved it at them, hopping from foot to foot as they read.

Slowly, they both looked up from it and gazed at their excited daughter.

"That would explain some things," Martha said dryly.

"Harry got one too," Alex burst out. "Isn't it exciting? I already wrote back, and they should be coming to take Harry and me to the magic shopping place. I mean, I know we have the scales already and the phials. And the hat and telescope, now that I think about it, but you probably won't let me bring that as it's a family heirloom, so we'll just have to buy one, but that does save us a little money, which is good - "

"Alex, honey, slow down before you asphyxiate," Laura reprimanded gently.

The eleven year old took a deep breath to slow herself down. "Sorry," she mumbled with a blush. "But I'm so excited!"

"How do you know it's true?" Laura asked, sitting on the velvet blue couch.

"Because both Harry and I got one, and they came from owls. They understood us when we asked them to wait until we were able to send off a reply," Alex replied calmly. "And it does explain a lot of things that Harry did magically when he had a hard time with our magick. I think they made a mistake about me, but that's okay, because I bet I can learn the way they do magic anyway. You guys have said I'm unusually strong for a Wiccan so young as me anyway, right?"

Martha nodded, patting Laura's shoulder. "I believe her, love. We'll have to talk to whoever this person is that will come. Hopefully this McGonagall person."

Laura sighed and tangled her fingers in Martha's. "Alright," she conceded.

Alex whooped. "I'm going to a magic school!"

 _Break_

The next morning, Martha was off work. Laura worked at the local Piggly Wiggly, while Martha worked as a doctor at the nearby hospital.

Alex walked over to the Dursley household as usual to help Harry with his chores, when a very large man and an old, severe looking woman strolled up to the door. Her jaw dropped at the sight of them. They did look normal, but something about them just gave off an undeniable magical vibe.

"Whoa! Are you guys from Hogwarts? The special boarding school?" Alex asked, bouncing a little.

The woman looked startled for a moment. "May I guess that you are Miss Alex Smith?" she asked, quickly recovering.

"Yup! I help Harry with his chores. I guess you got the letters explaining what's up?"

The large man nodded, looking sad. "Aye, we did." He held aloft a box. "I baked Harry a cake for his birthday."

"I'm sure he'll love it, 'specially if it's chocolate," Alex grinned. Hagrid grinned back.

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, and this is Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper. But further introductions will have to wait," she remarked, knocking on the door.

Inside, Petunia scowled at her coffee again. The girl was early today. She'd have to find an extra chore or two, she grumbled as she answered the door.

"Who are you?" she asked shrewdly, looking to Alex as if it was her fault.

"I am Professor Minerva McGonagall, and this is Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper at Hogwarts school. I've heard that you already know Miss Alex Smith," McGonagall said with a slight smile. "We've arrived to talk to Harry Potter and explain to him about where he's going and what to expect as a result of his fame. It seems that his friend here is going as well."

Petunia paled. "No! I simply won't allow it," she snapped. "We've been trying to squash his freakishness since he got here!"

Hagrid drew himself up to his full height and fixed Petunia in place with a scowl. "Harry has a right to his heritage," he growled. "Don't let him go and ye bring the full wrath of the wizarding world on yerself."

McGonagall laid a hand on Hagrid's shoulder. "No need for that kind of talk, Rubeus," she said calmly, staring at Petunia. "I simply need to tell her that it is cause for removal of Harry and the magical protections that ward their home from any evil wizards still lingering will fall, and they can kill her and her family." The old Transfiguration teacher despised these Muggles, despised what Albus had done , despised that she couldn't remove Harry from this situation, but there was nothing she could do about it. Except, of course, manipulate the Muggles into behaving.

Petunia paled even more and gulped, standing aside to let them in. "Yes, of course," she said faintly.

They filed into the house and took seats in the living room.

"Oh, and Mrs. Dursley...if Mr. Potter isn't given a proper room immediately, we will know and remove him from this home immediately," McGonagall added, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Petunia nodded shakily and made plans to clean out Dudley's second bedroom and give it to Harry as she went to the cupboard to retrieve him. Explaining this to Vernon would not end well.

Several minutes later, the foursome had explained to Martha what was happening. She immediately demanded to come along, of course, and McGonagall agreed. It didn't take very long to take the right train to the right place.

"Here we are. The Leaky Cauldron," McGonagall announced.

Martha squinted. "It just looks like a blank wall."

"That's because there's spells blocking Muggles like yerself from seeing it," Hagrid informed her. "Don't worry, ye'll still be able to pass through with us."

Martha made a humming noise before closing her eyes concentrating, asking Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and one of the gods Martha worshiped, for the ability to see past the "Muggle blocks" to accompany her daughter - after all, she was technically a witch, if not by this society's standards.

Athena heard Her follower and granted her request. She couldn't help but smile at the manipulative strategy, proud of Martha for emulating what Athena would do in such a situation.

Martha felt the tingle of the goddess' magic and opened her eyes. She could see the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron, though it was a bit fuzzy. She could see the brick wall sort of "behind" it. Like it was layered or something. She concluded that she would see, then, what Muggles saw as well as these witches and wizards. It seemed to her that it would help a great deal so she wouldn't accidentally mention something she shouldn't. She thanked her goddess quickly and promised a nice offering during the next ritual.

"I can see it just fine, now," Martha said in a mysterious voice.

Alex giggled, knowing what her mum must have done. "Of course, you are a witch, Mum," she said with a wink.

McGonagall looked flummoxed, but decided now was not the time and pulled them through.

Alex and Harry took a deep breath before they crossed the threshold into their first magical building. A sense of adventure hung in the air, and they could scarcely contain themselves as they stepped, for the first time, into the world they belonged in.

 **A/N: A rather Alex-centric chapter, but you needed a small peek into her life. Next chapter will about, of course, shopping in Diagon Alley. There will be surprises, of course, and after the shopping trip, Harry & Alex will hang out at Alex's house, where you'll get more descriptive details about her home and more about the world of Wicca.**


End file.
